38 REPORT — 1887. 



tories can be turned to their proper and fullest account in forecasting 

 weather. 



Now, when the observatory was opened in December 1883 the hours 

 for observation at Fort William were arranged so as to embrace the 

 hours adopted by the Meteorological Office, viz., 8 a.m. and 2 and 6 p.m. ; 

 and one of the first acts of the Directors was absolutely to place at the 

 service of the Meteorological Office weather telegrams for these three 

 hours both from the top and bottom of the mountain. This ofier was 

 declined on the ground of the expense for the transmission of the tele- 

 grams, and until Mr. Buchan shall have thoroughly discussed the ob- 

 servations, and deduced inferences from them from which the Meteoro- 

 logical Office might learn how to use the observations in forecasting 

 weather. 



Since, in fact, none of the sea-level observations at Fort William 

 from the founding of the observatory in the end of 1883 down to the 

 present time are in the Meteorological Office, or indeed anywhere but 

 in the office in Edinburgh, the opinion that the Ben Nevis observations 

 are useless in forecasting falls to the ground. 



On the evening of August 23 there was a discussion in Parliament on 

 the vote for the Learned Societies, and in that discussion the next morning 

 newspapers reported that Mr. Jackson, of the Treasury, Sir John Lubbock, 

 Sir E. Birkbeck, and others, argued against any grant to the observatory 

 on the ground that the Meteorological Council, composed of men of the 

 very highest scientific standing, had given it as their opinion that the 

 practical results to be obtained from the Ben Nevis Observatory did not 

 warrant the grant asked for from' the Treasury. 



A word as to this opinion. The Meteorological Council recently 

 printed a memorandum ' On Occasional Telegrams from Ben Nevis,' 

 signed Frederick Caster, which was forwarded to the Treasury some time 

 before the discussion came on in Parliament. A copy was also sent to 

 the Directors of the observatory by instructions from General Strachey. 

 The memorandum concludes thus : ' In their existing form the telegrams 

 [from Ben Nevis] are absolutely useless.' 



The whole question turns on the meaning of the phrase ' their existing 

 form,' which a few sentences will explain. 



When in December 1883 the offer of the Directors to send daily 

 telegrams from the top and bottom of the mountain was declined, the 

 Meteorological Office asked instead for occasional telegrams in these 

 words : ' We wish Mr. Omond to use his own discretion, and telegraph 

 to us whenever any very striking change of conditions or a special 

 phenomenon of great interest is recorded.' It will be noted that the 

 Meteorological Office made no mention whatever of storms. Since 

 December 1883 Mr. Omond has sent such telegrams as appeared to him 

 to be wished, and no application has been made for upwards of three 

 years for more frequent telegrams or any other information, only that 

 some time ago a request was forwarded that every effort be made that 

 the telegrams do not exceed the sixpenny charge. 



The request, it will be noted, was for telegrams ' whenever any very 

 striking change of conditions ' was recorded. Now, as a matter of fact, 

 no telegram has been sent with reference to all those storms, forming the 

 imrnense majority of storms, which have not been preceded or accom- 

 panied by a very striking change of conditions. But, further, several 

 telegrams were sent because it seemed to Mr. Omond that the very 



